‘Significant Strength in Pupil Leadership’

Published by Halliford School on Friday 13th of February 2026

We are delighted to share the outcome of our recent Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) visit to Halliford School. Independent schools are inspected every three years, and following our last inspection in 2022, where the school was judged to be excellent in all areas, the inspection framework has since changed. One-word qualitative judgements have been removed, and inspections now simply determine whether a school meets the incredibly rigorous Independent School Standards Regulations. We are pleased to share that Halliford School was judged to have met these standards.

The highest accolade came in the form of Halliford School being awarded a ‘significant strength’. A significant strength is an area of provision that demonstrates a deep understanding of aspirations for students’ development of knowledge, skills, and understanding, with a demonstrably clear and highly beneficial impact for students. Such recognition is rare, goes well beyond what would typically be seen in other schools, and is therefore subject to rigorous quality assurance by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. We are absolutely thrilled that Halliford School was awarded our significant strength for ‘the development of pupils’ leadership skills, enabling pupils to articulate their opinions and ideas with confidence, contribute meaningfully to decision-making and play a substantial role in the school and wider community’. In a world where warm-hearted leadership can sometimes feel in short supply, we are thrilled that our work in this vital area of education has been recognised in such exceptional terms. It truly underlines our vision for every member of the school community to feel valued as an individual and to be able to ‘come as you are and go as all you can be’.

We are especially pleased that our commitment to developing intellectual curiosity, alongside our distinctive approach of being academically ambitious while remaining academically sensitive and tailoring expectations to each individual student, has also been recognised. We know that our students achieve exceptional value-added outcomes at both GCSE and A-level, and following meticulous scrutiny of our results, we are delighted that the report concludes that ‘GCSE and A-level results are consistently above national outcomes, particularly in the higher grades’.

This validation of our approach in combining high expectations with a deep understanding of each student as an individual, while also offering a rich range of opportunities to develop character is superb. Words can ultimately only tell you so much, so please do come and visit us and see for yourself what makes Halliford School such an incredible place Halliford School. For more information, please visit www.hallifordschool.co.uk